1997 Epidemiological survey of dermatophytoses in Japan]

An epidemiological investigation on dermatophytoses in Japan for the year 1997 was carried out with the following results. The number of dermatomycoses patients visiting the fourteen cooperating institutes that year was 8,284. New outpatients with this condition accounted for 13.3% of all new outpatients in these institutes. Dermatophytoses patients numbered 7,314 and were composed of: tinea pedis 4,901 (63.8%), tinea unguium 1,592 (20.7%), tinea corporis 557 (7.2%), tinea cruris 395 (5.1%), tinea manuum 215 (2.8%), tinea capitis 12, kerion celsi 3, tinea barbae 1 and granuloma trichophyticum 1. Of these, 117 were children under 15 years of age. Species and incidences of the 2,273 strains isolated from the patients with dermatophytoses were as follows: Trichophyton (T.) rubrum 1,628 (71.6%), T. mentagrophytes 617 (27.2%), Epidermophyton floccosum 9 (0.4%), Microsporum (M.) canis 2, M. gypseum 2, T. glabrum 1, and 15 undetermined strains. Candidiasis was found in 714 individuals: intertrigo 302, erosio interdigitalis 108, erythema infantum 85, oral candidiasis 51, paronychia et onychia 51, genital candidiasis 50, onychomycosis 15 and other atypical forms of candidiasis 39. Patients with tinea versicolor numbered 242 and those with malassezia folliculitis 15. There were nine cases of deep dermal mycoses. The results of superficial dermatophytoses for the year 1997 differed from those of 1991-92 in the following points: tinea corporis and tinea cruris were lower in number, while tinea unguium had increased in ratio and number continuously. M. canis infection tended to decrease. In the age distribution of tinea, in every clinical form the peak of distribution curve gradually shifted to a more elderly age group.     

Treatment of onychomycosis caused by dermatophytes--an opinion proposed by Committee for Standardization of the Japanese Society for Medical Mycology 2007

After the rapid progress in therapeutic pharmaceutics against onychomycosis caused by dermatophytes in the 1990s, an optimal therapeutic strategy for individual patients with the onychomycosis has become possible for clinical dermatologists. In this review, we discuss on clinical problems concerning this disease and propose recommendable treatments for each patient with topical and/or systemic use of antifungal agents. Finally, with consideration of already published therapeutic guidelines, we stress the necessity of "order-made" therapy for each patient with his/her medical status and wishes taking into account.     

Histoplasmosis in Europe: report on an epidemiological survey from the European Confederation of Medical Mycology Working Group.

The purpose of this survey was to systematically collect data on individuals with histoplasmosis in Europe over a 5-year period (from January 1995 to December 1999). This included information on where and how the infection was acquired, the patient's risk factors, the causative organism, how the infection was diagnosed and what therapy the patients received. Data were sent on a standardized survey form via a national convenor to the coordinator. During the survey, 118 cases were reported, with 62 patients having disseminated disease, 31 acute pulmonary infection, chronic pulmonary infection in 6 and localized disease in 2 patients. For 17 patients, the diagnosis of histoplasmosis was incidental, usually secondary to investigations for lung cancer. Most patients had travelled to known endemic areas, but 8 patients (from Italy, Germany and Turkey) indicated that they had not been outside their countries of origin and hence these cases appear to be autochthonous. Notable observations during the survey were the reactivation of the disease up to 50 years after the initial infection in some patients and transmission of the infection by a transplanted liver. Itraconazole was the most commonly used therapy in both pulmonary and disseminated disease. The observation of autochthonous cases of disease suggests that the endemic area of histoplasmosis is wider than classically reported and supports continued surveillance of the disease throughout Europe.     

An epidemiological survey of dermatomycoses in Japan, 2002]

An epidemiological survey of dermatomycoses and the causative fungus flora of dermatophytoses in Japan for 2002 was made on a total number of 72,660 outpatients who visited 14 dermatological clinics throughout Japan. The results were as follows: 1) Dermatophytosis was the most prevalent cutaneous fungal infection (7,994 cases) seen in these clinics, followed by candidiasis (755 cases) and then Malassezia infections (220 cases). 2) Among dermatophytoses, tinea pedis was the most frequent (4,813 cases: male 2,439, female 2,374), then in decreasing order, tinea unguium (2,123 cases: male 1,093, female 1,030), tinea corporis (497 cases: male 281, female 216), tinea cruris (299 cases: male 249, female 50), tinea manuum (248 cases: male 144, female 104) and tinea capitis including kerion (14 cases, male 6, female 8). 3) Tinea pedis and tinea unguium are seen to increase in summer season, among the aged population and among males in each clinic. When compared to the previous surveys (1992 and 1997) by clinical form, t. unguium patients increased from 1.9% of total outpatients in 1992, to 2.0% in 1997, then to 2.9% in 2002. 4) As the causative dermatophyte species, Trichophyton rubrum was the most frequently isolated among all dermatophyte infections except tinea capitis. 5) T. rubrum was isolated from 63.3%(1,431/2,262) of tinea pedis lesions, followed by Trichophyton mentagrophytes (36.6%, 829/2,262), and also 88.8% (325/366) of t. corporis, 95.4% (185/194) of t. cruris and 85.6% (462/540) of t. unguium. 6) Cutaneous candidiasis was seen in 755 cases (1.0%) of 72,660 outpatients. Intertrigo (347 cases) was the most frequent clinical form, followed by erosio interdigitalis (103 cases) and diaper candidiasis (102 cases). It has a tendency to affect the aged being complicated with topical predisposing factors. 7) Cutaneous Malassezia infections and other superficial fungal infections are seen in 220 cases, without any characteristic features by gender or clinical form.     

Epidemiological survey of the imported mycoses in Japan.

The authors surveyed the present situation for imported (introduced) mycoses from papers published in Japan as of the end of October, 1998. There were 16 cases of coccidioidomycosis, 22 of histoplasmosis, 13 of paracoccidioidomycosis and one of penicilliosis marneffei. In coccidioidomycosis the ages ranged from 17 to 55, for 14 males and two females. There were eight cases of primary pulmonary coccidioidomycosis and the remaining eight were of the disseminated type, of which two were fatal. For histoplasmosis, the ages ranged from 17 to 74 of which five cases were female and 17 male. They consisted of 13 pulmonary histoplasmosis, seven disseminated type and two cutaneous type. All cases of the disseminated type died. All of the patients with paracoccidioidomycosis were infected in Latin American countries. They consisted of 12 males and one female, and the ages ranged from 34 to 68. The clinical types were dominated by mucocutaneous-lymphangitic paracoccidioidomycoses (10 cases). A single case of penicilliosis marneffei (38 years old, male) was reported very recently. The case was complicated by AIDS and became critical. Blastomycosis has not yet been reported. This survey indicates that the number of the imported mycoses in Japan is increasing. It is necessary for the responsible authorities to take counter measures to cope with this situation.     

European Confederation of Medical Mycology (ECMM) epidemiological survey on invasive infections due to Fusarium species in Europe

In order to better understand the epidemiology of fusariosis in Europe, a survey collecting information on the clinical characteristics of the patients infected by Fusarium as well as on the infecting isolates was launched. A total of 76 cases of invasive fusariosis occurring from January 2007 to June 2012 were collected and Fusarium isolates were identified by sequencing the translation elongation factor 1α (TEF) gene. Also, antifungal susceptibility was tested by broth microdilution according to the European Committee on Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing (EUCAST) and the Etest. Disseminated disease was considered proven in 46 cases and probable in 17 cases. Localised infection was seen in 13 cases. Gibberella fujikuroi species complex (SC), including Fusarium verticillioides and F. proliferatum, and F. solani SC were the most frequent aetiology of disseminated and localised infections, respectively. The crude mortality rate was 46 %, the highest associated with F. solani SC (67 %) and F. proliferatum (62.5 %). A wide range of antifungal susceptibilities was observed. Amphotericin B was the most potent antifungal in vitro, and itraconazole the least effective. The azoles exhibited lower minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) against F. verticillioides strains, with posaconazole having a slightly better performance, while F. solani SC isolates were resistant to all three azoles tested. The essential agreement between the Etest and the EUCAST method was 100 % for itraconazole and voriconazole, and 96 % for amphotericin B and posaconazole. In conclusion, we confirm that fusariosis is a rare but severe event in Europe, that G. fujikuroi SC is the predominant cause of deep infections and that different species have different antifungal in vitro susceptibility patterns.     

Quality control survey implemented by Japan Medical Association and standardization of external quality assessment in Japan]

International Final Draft on quality management of medical laboratory by International Organization for Standardization (ISO) will be published soon. According to this draft, the accreditation of the laboratories should be given by the third party on the basis of objective matter, and the external quality control survey results is thought to be the most important indices for the accreditation. Although variety of external quality control surveys are now implementing in Japan, most of those surveys are done only once a year. Therefore, we could not evaluate the laboratories performance by any of those survey results. If those quality control surveys are done with the standardized system, summative results from different survey could give us fair evaluation on each participating laboratories. Japan Medical Association (JMA) is now making final draft on standardized method for quality assessment system with the consensus between the JMA, Japanese Society of Laboratory Medicine (JSLM, former Japan Society of Clinical Pathology), Japanese Association of Laboratory Medical Technologists (JALMT) and Japan Registered Clinical Laboratories Association (JRCLA). When this quality assessment system actually starts, Japanese people may receive great benefit from the laboratory tests.     

The control survey of Japanese Association of Medical Technologists (JAMT) and its possibility of the standardization for the survey]

External quality control survey of JAMT (Japanese Association of Medical Technologists) carries out 9 sections of clinical chemistry, hematology, bacteriology, serology, cytology, urology, physiology-pathology, blood transfusion and genetics. In two sections of biochemistry and urology, the control survey sample have been certified which was target value and allowance limits of error by the reference method. These standardized items are utilized in order to know the degree of the accuracy of the participation laboratories. We carried out the investigation for putting the focus at 2 sections of biochemistry and serology in order to execute the standardization of the external quality control. The multiple laboratories were carried out certified using both of common pooled serum and the reference serum for a proficiency test. On the standardization items, the result showed that the external quality survey assessment was possible by the accuracy. On items of biochemistry and serology test, there have compatibility which the results of same control survey of other group. It judged possible the standardization of the external quality control assessment by the integration of the research method.     

Studies on the correlation of the method currently used by the Japanese Society for Medical Mycology and its modified method with the NCCLS M27-A2 microdilution method for azole susceptibility testing of Candida species]

To evaluate the currently used Japanese Society for Medical Mycology (JSMM) method for testing the azole susceptibility of yeasts, the activities of fluconazole and itraconazole were tested against recently collected clinical isolates of Candida spp. (n=946) and compared with the National Committee for Clinical Laboratory Standards (NCCLS) M27-A2 microdilution reference method. Favorable correlation with the M27-A2 method was not seen for isolates of C. albicans, C. tropicalis or other Candida spp., particularly their trailing-growth isolates. However, the degree of correlation and agreement of MIC values were markedly improved when testing was performed by the modified JSMM method in which the end-point to be read was changed from IC80 (for the current JSMM method) to IC50. These results suggest that there is an urgent need to revise the current JSMM method.     

Prevalence rate of allergy to Japanese cedar pollen in Tokyo--from field investigation in 1996 by Tokyo Japanese Cedar Pollen Allergy Measurements and Review Committee]

Prevalence rate of allergy to Japanese cedar pollen was investigated by means of questionnaires and immunological examinations in residents of 3 regions in Tokyo (Akiruno city, Chofu city, and Ota ward). The results were as follows: 1) the prevalence rate of allergy to Japanese cedar pollen in Tokyo was 25.7% in Akiruno city, 21.1% in Chofu city, and 17.7% in Ota ward in 1996; 2) stratification by the age reveal that the prevalence rate was the highest in the age group of 30 to 44, and the group showed prevalence rate of above 40% in Akiruno city; 3) overall prevalence rate of Tokyo was 19.4% in 1996, which was approximately twice as much as that in 1985; 4) increase in prevalence rate in the recent decade was most significant in Akiruno city where the largest number of Japanese cedar pollen was detected in the air, and prevalence rate tended to rise in the young group of 14 or less.     

A sero-epidemiological survey of gelatin sensitization in young Japanese children during the 1979-1996 period

Recently, an increasing number of adverse reactions in children inoculated with live attenuated virus vaccines containing gelatin have been reported. However, the distribution, magnitude and rate of gelatin sensitization in the Japanese population have not been established. Here, the purpose was to investigate the distribution of children with positive gelatin immunoglobulin G (IgG) and/or IgE in Japan and to ascertain whether the incidence of positive antigelatin antibody cases among the general population, as reflected in the sample employed here, has been increasing during the period in question. The presence of IgE and IgG antibodies were measured against gelatin in 1600 panel sera collected from different age groups of Japanese children in Hokkaido/Sapporo from 1979 through 1996. Among the subjects, 39 had gelatin IgG- and/or IgE-positive sera, and these were correlated with the time of obtaining the sera as well as with the age of the subjects. The older the subject and the later the period, the higher the sero-incidence. Japanese children have become increasingly sensitized to gelatin, especially since the mid-1990s.